Farmington, MO — In February of 2015, Leadwood Police Officer Jay R. Bellis, 38, picked up a 4-year-old child and smashed him into a wall causing him to crack his head on a kitchen cabinet. Only because a 3-year-old child witnessed the incident and reported it, did his fellow cops ever find out. Once they questioned him about the abuse, Bellis admitted to it and was charged with felony child abuse.

Last week, Bellis was sentenced for admitting to the abuse. However, likely due to the fact that he was a police officer, he will not be required to serve his 7-year sentence — nor the 1-year minimum required for the Class C felony, to which he admitted.

In October, Bellis pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, a Class C felony. Circuit Court Judge Wendy Horn then sentenced him to serve seven years in the Missouri State Department of Corrections. However, Horn then suspended execution of the sentence and placed Bellis on probation for five years.

Instead of the seven years he should be serving in prison for beating up a small child, Bellis was ordered to serve what is known as ‘Shock Time’ in the St. Francois County Jail and complete anger management.

Shock time, according to Missouri law is a special program with a drastically reduced sentence for first-time offenders. The ‘shock’ is to put the person in jail for a minimum of 120 days to show them a glimpse of the potential consequences of their actions.

However, showing the nature of blue privilege, Bellis won’t have to do the entire 120 days — only 60.

This sentence should come as no surprise given the fact that after Bellis admitted to the felony, he was given a promotion within his department.

Bellis was working for the Leadwood Police Department from 2011 until 2014. The admitted child abuser then moved from the Leadwood PD to St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department, where he worked from March of 2014 to February 25 of 2015. He left the department one day after the abuse. It is currently unclear why he left, if he was terminated, or if it was his choice.

However, on March 12, Bellis returned to the Leadwood Police Department and despite his history of assaulting 4-year-olds, he was promoted to Sergeant shortly after his arrival.

This cop admitted to throwing a 4-year-old boy against a wall so hard that he bounced off and smashed his head on a kitchen cabinet. He also admitted to pulling a 4-year-old’s ear so hard that it bled. He was charged and admitted to the “Class C” felony because it resulted in “serious emotional or physical injury” to the child. And, because of his blue privilege, he will not even face the 1-year required minimum sentence for his crime.

Meanwhile, there are likely dozens of non-child-abusing fathers rotting in prison because Bellis arrested them for possessing cannabis. And politicians and the American public at large, have the audacity to refer to this process as ‘justice system.’